Home

Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu was part of the original group of monks and yogis to visit England in the mid-70′s. He was the first Westerner to be ordained in the tradition of Ajahn Cha in England. During the seven years he lived and trained in England, he worked to restore the old Victorian estate that has become the Dharma lotus of Theravada Buddhism. From this auspicious beginning more than ten centers in Europe have been established and are flourishing.

As a lay individual, Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu was one of the original benefactors in the purchase and development of Cittaviveka, a dhamma center founded in the tradition of Ajahn Cha close to London. Since 1998 he has traveled throughout the world leading retreats.At one point in his teaching capacity he designed a plan for a Spiritual Park outside of Bangkok which would bring together all the world’s religions in the spirit of Unity and Peace. This center would teach skillful ways to live in the world and to accept and respect all Beings as brothers and sisters. After several years of working with architechs and city planners this project abandoned. It became obvious that this sort of project would likely turn into something too demanding and too vulnerable to the ideas and notions of different groups of unenlightened people.

He has written many books on contemplative practice in the forest tradition. Those available in the U.S. are Questions from the City, Answers from the Forest, Monk in the Mountain and Meeting the Monkey Halfway .In Thailand, the third printing of “QUESTIONS FROM THE CITY AND ANSWERS FROM THE FOREST” is in production. A deep and perfection will also be available through ASIA BOOKS AND BOOKAZINE.